Monday, August 25, 2014

V11:Chapter Five-Affection Connection

“Jesus H. Christ on a raft,” Andy said, his voice filled
with a touch of shock and awe.

“Andy,” Alice scolded, though she looked just as surprised
as her brother.

“Look at ‘em, Alice.” The sharpshooter raised a finger to
the dog men. “They look ... they look …”

“Like bulldogs,” Dodger said. “I’m sorry to spring it on you
like this. I thought you knew from dealing with them already.”

“We had no idea,” Alice said softly. “They had their faces
covered during the raid last night.”

“What are they?” Andy said.

“They are the result of bad science,” Lelanea said. “Now
kindly pick up your jaws and get over it. The last thing we need is a bunch of
gawking morons.”

Alice and Andy both looked away from the line of strange dog
men, a fine sheen of red rising to both the twins’ cheeks.

Meanwhile, Lelanea exited the Rhino and began gathering the
weapons scattered across the ground. When she reached Kitty’s guns, Lelanea
scooped up the weapons and stepped back a bit, taking a moment to stare the
redhead up and down. Lelanea grunted. “So, this is the infamous Kitty?”

Somewhere behind Dodger hoof beats arose, announcing the
arrival of the rest of the posse. Just in time. “Andy, there should be a length
of rope in the Rhino. Gather up Rex’s men and tie them together. They can walk
back to the circus.”

“Aye,” Andy said, and returned to the Rhino, seeking said
rope.

“Alice,” Dodger said, “Get the horses together. I’m sure
your troop could use a few more mounts.”

“We certainly could,” Alice said. She joined her brother in
following Dodger’s commands.

“And what do you plan to do with me?” Kitty said, that smile
never leaving her face.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Dodger said. “Lelanea, deal with
her.”

“With pleasure,” Lelanea said.

“Ohhh,” Kitty purred. “I think that pleasure will be mine as
well.”

“Shut up and hold your hands behind your back.”

“Or what?”

“I will kill you.”

Kitty kept on smiling. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“And if the great Rodger Dodger won’t shoot me, what makes
me think a little thing like you will? You haven’t even got a gun.”

Lelanea looked the woman dead in the eye and said, “I don’t need
a gun because I don’t plan on shooting you. I plan on tearing out your throat.”

This seemed to have the desired effect on Kitty, for she
went quiet, lost her smile and twisted her arms to bring her hands behind her
back. Lelanea used a length of twine she pulled from somewhere about her person
to bind the other woman’s hands together.

Dodger forced himself not to think about where Miss Lelanea
was hiding that bit of twine this whole time.

“Dodger?” Duncan said.

Dodger glanced to the left, finding Duncan his normal size
once again and still astride the elephant. “James? You all right?”

“I’m fine,” the man said, though he clutched his still
bleeding right arm. “I think there’s something wrong with Baby, though.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure. She’s just acting, I don’t know, weird.”

Dodger saw what the man meant. The elephant had stopped
swaying, stopped shaking her head, had stopped pretty much everything. She
stood stone still, staring into the distance as if in a trance. If Dodger
hadn’t seen the elephant in full stride only moments before, he would’ve
thought the thing a statue. About that time, Gerald and Brian arrived, each
bringing their horses to a stamping halt beside of the elephant.

“How is she?” Brian said as he leapt down from his steed.

“She’s acting funny,” Duncan said.

Brian raced to the quiet elephant’s side. He laid a hand on
her leg, gently stroking the wrinkled skin. “It’s all right girl. It’s me.” He looked
the elephant over from end to end, then leaned back and shouted up at Duncan, “What
did you do to her?”

“Nothing,” Duncan said. He thought about this a moment, then
corrected himself. “I mean I put that thing on her like Dodger said and-”

“What thing?”

“That thing Dodger gave me.”

“What thing?” Brian shouted.

As the pair fell into an argument, Gerald dismounted and
joined Dodger. “How can I help?”

“Give Andy a hand tying up those prisoners,” Dodger said.

Andy returned from the Rhino with the rope. “I thought I’d
never find it. There’s so much junk in that trunk.”

“Hey,” Brian said, approaching Dodger. “What kind of thing
did you give him to put on Baby?”

“Something to keep that collar from manipulating her,” Dodger
said.

“What did it do to her?”

“It stopped the collar from working, didn’t it?”

“Sure but look at her.” Brian shot the elephant a look of
almost parental concern. “What’s wrong with her?”

Dodger glanced to the stone still elephant. “I don’t know.
I’m sure it’s all part of the process. I’ll bet she comes out of it in a-”

Without warning, the elephant raised her trunk and let out a
trumpeting cry. Whether of confusion or pain, Dodger had no idea, not having
any experience with elephants in his life. Baby then began to move about,
stomping around wildly, caring neither for the horses nor humans—nor for that
matter, half humans—in her path. She didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular,
just around and around, as if she couldn’t decide which direction to settle on.

She also seemed supremely irate.

The elephant headed for the dog men first, letting out
another trumpeting cry as she stormed toward them. Still clutching a section of
rope in each of their hands, Andy and Gerald split apart, running in different
directions to escape the heavy and dangerous footfalls. The rope stretched
between them, comically jerking each man off of their feet as they reached the
end of their respective length. The dog men took advantage of the turmoil, as
every Jack man of them made a break toward Alice and the horses. Dodger raised
his weapons, but he couldn’t get a clear shot in the rising cloud of dust and
mix of company and elephant feet. Alice did her best to keep the men from
escaping, but between the mad elephant and the swell of men, she was lucky to
get away unhurt.

Lelanea, however, wouldn’t release her prey so easily. She
grabbed a surprised Kitty by the roots of her red hair, jerking the woman away
from the rampaging elephant, tossing her to one side. Kitty rolled about in the
dirt trying to right herself, but not before Lelanea was on her again. Lelanea
once again grabbed Kitty by her hair and yanked the struggling woman along the dirt
to relative safety.

Dodger chuckled at the sight of this, before he remembered
that he too was in the same dangerous path the ladies had just escaped. Baby
switched directions several times, shifting between the Rhino and the now wide
circle of people around her. Duncan had somehow managed to dismount from her
without getting himself hurt, and was helping Andy and Gerald find their
footing. Alice abandoned the last of the horses and sought shelter behind the
Rhino.

“Everyone get behind the Rhino,” Dodger shouted. As the
others scurried to join Alice, Dodger shouted to the handler, who remained as
near the elephant as she would allow, “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know!” Brian yelled. “I’ve never seen her like
this. What did you do to her?”

“Nothing! The doc said it was harmless!”

“If you hurt her, I swear I will kill you both!”

Dodger couldn’t fault the man for his concern. The elephant
sure did seem in some amount of pain, or perhaps confused by the opposing
devices. Dodger considered the latter, as well as the side effects as explained
by the professor. “Do elephants get aggressive during mating season?”

This unusual question brought the handler to a dangerous
standstill. “What?”

“Look out!” Dodger shouted, and shoved the handler out of the
shadow of a quickly landing foot.

Brian fell to the ground with a grunt and rolled safely away.

Dodger ducked and weaved, in and out of four falling feet,
trying to keep from replacing the man as a target. Baby became more and more
aggressive in her stomping, almost kicking with each raised step. Dry earth
billowed about her as she raged on, leaving Dodger nearly blinded in the
resulting dirt filled haze. Just when it seemed like the rampage would never
end, the stomping and trumpeting ceased, and as Dodger had hoped, the beast
fell still and silent. Unable to see clearly, Dodger crouched low and held his
position until he was certain she wouldn’t move again. He coughed and gagged in
the dust cloud, waiting for it to settle once more. Out of the fog of dirt,
Dodger could make out four sturdy pillars surrounding him. Something long and
thin swayed to his right, like a pendulum waving away the haze. He glanced up
from his crouch, taking in the dark gray wrinkled canvas stretched above him. It
took him a moment to realize he had ended up underneath the very beast he was
trying to avoid.

Baby the elephant stood over the crouching Dodger.

“Dodger,” Brian said. “Just tuck and roll out from under
her. She won’t mind. She’s gentle. Well, normally she’s gentle. Just roll away.
I don’t think she will hurt you.”

Dodger swallowed hard. While he didn’t mind animals, Dodger never
considered himself exactly an animal lover. Sure, he kept his share of dogs and
cats, as well as killed a good many cows and the likes to fill his belly. But
this? This was a little too close for Dodger to call comfort. He lowered to his
knees, intending to crawl out from under the giant as quickly as possible.

“Scare her?” Dodger felt something touch his shoulder. He
steadied his nerves and looked over that shoulder only to be greeted by a
snorting triangle of pink—the end of the elephant’s trunk.

It huffed in his face.

“Don’t move,” Brian said. “She’s been through a heck of a
lot and I don’t know what she’ll do.”

Taking the man’s advice, Dodger fell still and allowed the
probing proboscis to poke and prod at him. Baby sniffed Dodger from head to
toe, then gently wrapped her trunk partially around his waist, as far as she
could reach, and began to pull him forward. Dodger reckoned it was best to
follow her lead, and crawled forward, between her front legs and toward the
elephant’s head.

Once he was free of her towering bulk, Dodger contemplated
picking up the pace and getting as far from her as he could. But something about
the animal set his nerves at ease. Baby lowered her head to look him over with
her calm, placid eyes. Dodger saw an undeniable peace in those big eyes. The
kind of peace he yearned for himself. If this beast wanted to hurt him, she
would’ve done so long before now. Baby reached out with her trunk again and
stroked his hair, ever so softly, then curled her trunk around him to pat him
on the rump a few times.

“Hey now,” Brian said. “I think she likes you.”

Dodger smiled. “I like her too.” He reached up and ran his
hand along the underside of her trunk, to which the elephant all but sighed in
response. “It’s very nice to meetcha, little lady.”

The elephant responded by wrapping her trunk fully around
Dodger and nearly squeezing the life from him.

“Baby,” Brian said as he patted on the left flank. “Baby,
now that’s enough. Let him go.”

Baby complied, releasing Dodger with what seemed a touch of
reluctance.

“Are you all right?”

“I’ll live,” Dodger said.

“I think Baby has a new boyfriend,” Alice said from behind
him. She laughed aloud.

The others joined in her laughter, gathering behind him as
they snickered at the whole affair. Dodger didn’t mind. He was just glad
everyone was in such good humor, considering they just lost nearly all of their
prisoners. And not to mention, he was glad to still be alive.

“I’m sorry about that,” the handler said. “She’s usually
friendly, but I’ve never seen her take to someone so quickly.” Brian glanced up
to her again, only to narrow his eyes and click his tongue. “Weird. Why in the
world would her musth glands be active?”

“Her what?”

“Her musth glands. They only secrete oil when she’s in
heat.”

The words turned in Dodger’s head, as did the professor’s
explanation of the disruptor.

It might make her a
touch affectionate.

Dodger’s eyes went wide when it dawned on him what was
happening here. As if to confirm his suspicions, the elephant ran her trunk
across his head again, stroking his hair with grace and care. The kind of care
you reserved for dear friends, or even lovers. Baby had indeed found herself a
new beau.